Wednesday, February 28, 2007

ADQ No Friend to Anglo Quebecers: More Proof

As the Gazette opines today, Mario Dumont is no friend to Quebec's English-speaking population. No surprise, that. It is kind of bizarre, though, that Dumont has been trolling for votes among West island mayors who are still disgruntled over what they perceive as the LPQ's botching of the demerger file and the inefficiency of the agglomeration council.

Now Dumont is proposing the scrapping of school boards, stating that the education system would be better run under municipal authorities. As one of our two remaining English-language dailies in this province ponders today: would English-speaking communities find our institutions better served and more representative of our needs if, for example, Mayor Tremblay and his franco-dominated glom council were in charge? I think not.

Again, another example of how insidious the ADQ really is.

While the outrageous xenophobic comments of separatist leaders of yesteryear have been shelved in a possible nod to political correctness (and a not-so-secret bid to get votes from cultural communities), there is no reason to believe that nationalists and separatists have developed warm and fuzzy feelings towards the anglophone community. They know that no matter how much they suck up to other communities no Anglo in their right mind would ever vote for them. It seems in the post-1995 referendum era, their solution is simple: squeeze the squareheads out, but do try to go about it subtly.

Shades of this tactic could be seen back in the late 1990s when the PQ first proposed the municipal mergers, with former Montreal Mayor (and failed ADQiste) Pierre Bourque as their partner in crime. At that time Bourque said one of the first orders of businesss would be to change the repetitive and seemingly 'dangerous' street names that plague Montreal's west end and West island suburbs. Offensive street names such as Elgin, Mayfair and let's not forget the ubiquitous Victoria would be replaced by the Societe de Toponymes by 'other', more suitable names. Certainly not Smith, Jones or Brown. That set my squarehead radar shrieking. Those of us with roots in Quebec's Townships know how badly the Toponyme geniuses mangle formerly English place names.

The proposition to scrap all school boards is a similar squeeze which would serve to rid the province of the only pan-Quebec English institution.

From experience, I can say with a great deal of certainty that Bourque's Vision Montreal detested the Anglo community. Their board meetings were rife with anti-Anglo slurs. It didn't suprise a soul when Bourque decided to run - and mercifully lost - for Dumont's ADQ. They have a lot in common, right down to their disregard for a community that predates Confederation.

A lot of people outside Quebec may believe that we Anglos have nothing to complain about in comparison to minorities in other provinces. However, other provincial governments want to protect and preserve their minority communities - unlike Quebec where the sole focus seems to be burying them. Even FLQ threats against Anglos are not treated seriously - very disturbing.

Make no mistake: Like Bourque before him, Mario Dumont is nothing more than a twerp separatist dressed up in autonomist's clothing. Do not be fooled for one bleeding second.

1 Comments:

Dumont's triumph helps Harper more than Charest's win in that it gives the CPC more wiggle room from the right. I am not suggesting that Harper will abolish official bilingualism but that there is a greater incentive to. This also applies to appeasing the so-cons and putting forward a family first agenda.